Clutch mechanism



Jan 19, 1932A- J. R. ATKINSON ET Al. 1,841,392

CLUTCH MEGHANISM Filed sept. 5, 1930 MN A0 L V.. mwa@ EWDE VKWT NT S RMNl nm Patented Jan. 19, 1932 UNITED STA-TES JOHN R. ATKINSON i.AND ROBERTGOODELL, OF LOS ANGELES,'ND JOHN" K.1STEGE,1OF

'PATENT oFFicE HUNTINGTON PARK, CALIFORNIA; SAID GOQDE'LL STEGEASSIGNORS T0 SAID ATKINSON Application led September Our inventionrelates to new and useful improvements in clutch mechanisms and es-lpecially to an automatic intermittent key actuated device, wherein theimportant object isV ,to produce. .an improved instantaneous grippingand holding action between the line drive and the power producing thework, and an instantaneous automatic releasing of the parts asgsoon asthe work is completed in combination with improved means in general foraiding in accomplishing the foregoing., A Y

The device is particularly adapted for use onk machinesfor makingsterotypeplates for printingffor the blind, the improved application ofwhich invention is copending, andfor this reason since the action of a.machine of this character is similar to` the action'of a typewriter itis obvious the short intervals of time occurring between the successivesteps of the work must besmet, and accomplished with a combined quickpower retarding and accelerating control. In the Braille method ofprinting or writing for the blind the letters are raised above thesurfaceand allt the letters occurring in the 'alphabet' are composed ofdifferent combinations of styli arranged ink cells consisting of sixstyli in all. There aresix keys which p operate the styli singly orplurally which 51 comprise the various letters.`

f These styli are assembled in a stylus block, and the styli are movablevertically thereinby means of reciprocating cam rods, there being aseparate rod for each stylus. These rods are each in turn actuated by anoperating key or l keys. Therefore, by depressing oneor more keys thecorresponding stylus is elevated and held in raised position inthestylus block so long Vasthe operating 4key Vremains down. i Thestylus block isactuated by an eccentric whichis under direct control ofthe clutch mechanism operable thru themedium of each operating key orcombinationofkeys.4 A i j, The eccentric will also continuato operatethe styli in the stylus block as long as an operating key remains down,and at each revolutiony of Vthe eccentric the stylus block is raised tobring the elevated stylus-in communication with la cooperating matrixhav- CLUTCH MEcHANrsMi 3, 1939.5 serial No. 479,443.Y

ceive lthe upper ends of said styli.

live figures, of which: K v -Fig. lis a perspective view illustrating4anl embodiment of the inventionA as applied to a Braille press, onlysuiiicient parts of the press being'shown lto identify the inventiontherewith," Y y.

Y Fig.- 2 is a sectionftaken on the linel2-2of Fig.1; Y 1 I Fig. 3 is aperspective view of the rocker4 dog and rocker pin which actuates thecam sleeve; q v' Fig. 4. is a section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;and

Fig. 5 is a detail broken away view show:- ing therelation of the rockerpin to the cam sleeve and ball cage on a larger scale.

` The VVcomplete assembly f of the `clutch mechanism with the Braillepress may be seen by referring to our copending application, the titleof which is Improved lmachine for Y making stereotype plates forprinting for the blind, SerialfNo. 479,444, liled September,

The foregoing description which is taken in conjunction therewith thoughnot shown here, will suffice to llink the present invention with itsparent invention.V

The numeral l designates a Aportion ofV an ing at 'its lower end, meansadapted to re- In` the accompanyingdrawings are; shownV Toa adjustableconnectingrodwhich isactuated by the operating key notshown buthereinbefore referred` to, said key having a threev fold function.. It`operates the'escapement to move selectively one space at atime; it

operatesits correspondingistylus; land it,

- thru mechanism'nowto be described, operates tofree thelrockerV dogwhich-under the 'con-4 i trol of a compression spring causes a partialrotationrfothe rocker pin `'which shiftsthe ball ycage in arclockwisedirection andthe y Acam sleeve ina ycounter-clockwise (direction, toeii'ect through the medium of the balls a clutching action whereby torotate the eccen- Ytric and rod carryingthe stylus block with *Y thestyli therein-and complete the-cycle of operation, y Y VThe numeral 2designates a portion ofthe connecting rod which carries the stylus blocky wherein the different styli are selectively elevated and this,together with the reference to the adjustable connecting rod 1aforementioned will sufficiently link the clutch mechanism with thatportion of the parent invention, which will clearly portray its functionand the-purpose forwhich it is intended.

Referring specifically to Fig. 1 we-show a clutch mechanismthesupporting arms 3 vand 3a of which are shown broken apart from theirmain frame. said arms is journalled a shaft 1, andupon said shaftthrough the medium of said caln sleeve and ball cage is ball-bearinglymountr ed a pulley 5 driven by a belt 6. The clutch mechanism ismeuntedon the shaft 4 adjacent the pulley 5 and is adapted to be thrown int-oand out of engagement with said pulley at will. Y

There is an eccentric 4mounted oni said shaftto travel rotativelytherewith to operatefthe connecting rod which carriesthe stylus block.It will be seen that the 'eccen` tric 28 has a sleeve portion whichcomprises aninner shank member 29, an enlarged pertion 8, and a terminalportion 8a, all these parts constituting a unit, which, vby means v ofthe pin 42,is secured 'to the shaft 4 to rotate therewith. p Y

The eccentric is pinned to the shaft on which it is mounted so that saidshaft may have a brake applied thereto to' make more sensitive theaction of the clutch mechanism.

The clutch mechanism proper comprises a rocker dog 7, Figs. 1 andY8,slightly rotatingly and l-rotatively carried in a recess in theenlarged member 8, the round portions 9 and 10 of the rocker pin 11being jour-Y nalled in the sides 12 and 13 of the member 8 in which therecess is formed. The rocker pin is fixedly held to the rocker dog by alkey pin 14.

The extension 11 of the rocker pin extends into hub portion 15 ofthepulley 5 so as to terminate just slightly "in advance of the face of thepulley. The pulley 5 normally idles onthe balls 22 infthe ball'cage 21.y

The rocker pin extension 11 is anticlasticl it having'two concave' andtwo convex surfaces, 1 6 and 17 respectively. The convex surfaces'are'adapted to be seated in splines 18V and 19,

with the outer surfaces of said sleeve. @.ver

Into the extremities of lt is also slightly reversibly'shiftable saidcam sleeve and inside the bushing of said hub is a ball guide or cage21. The ball cage has a slight clearance at both ends so that it may bereciprocated longitudinally of the shaft axis.

lVithin the ball cage 21 is housed the balls 22. These balls areadapted'to creep up the incl-ines of the cam elements 27 of the camsleeveA as soon vas .thedog under the action of the spring '24 ,hasrotated the rocker pin extension 11 on its axis so as to recede'the camsleeve Aand cause a slight advancement of the ball cage;

The centrifuga-l force of the balls and the Y ball cage when they aretemporarily uncon` strained .after the movement of the rocker p-invandafter the reverse shifting of the can] sleeve has been effected, Iarevadvanced .and the balls are thrown into vtight gripping relationbetween the inclined faces of the camelements of the sleeve land theinner periphery of the hardened insert 26 in the hub of the pulley. i

The balls 22-normally playing between .the lia-rd steel bushing 26seated in thehub .of the pulley-5 and in the vroots 27 offthe camelements of the sleeve 20 upon being advanced by the: :foregoingoperation are not `only caused to creep up the inclined faces 0f the camelements by the-reverse shifting producedby rotating the rocker pin butthe centrifugal force expands'the orbital pathof the balls in which theyare travelling .tightly gripping the cam sleeve in interlockingrelationwiththe hub of the pulley, thus causing the .two to rotate in unison.The clutching action of the balls against the inner per-iphery of thesteel bushing 2G by virtue of *their'advancement up the inclined facesof thecam elements thru the latter operation in .turn causes the member8 to rotate and it being connected to thel eccentric 28 thru the mediumof the shank 29 effects rotation of said eccentric.

The arm 3 supports a pair. of laterally eX- tended bearing supports 30and 31'into which is journalled a stub shaft 32. On one vend 'ofv rockerpin'exte'nsion 11, thereby permitting the balls to be advanced intolocked engagement with the faces of the cam sleeve and the bushing inthehub of the pulley, whereupon said member V8 is turned and with eachrotation thereof the Aeccentric A28 el-evates the ro'cl nism.

' y Therefore to 'The'inanual depressing of'eaoh operating key or keysthrows' the yoke provided with a cam face Sralto dotted position whichallowsthe spring 24 to produce a slight rotation ofthe dog v7 wherebyytorotate the rocker pin 'and also' produce a `slight reverse shifting ofthe camisl'eev'e and'the ball cage. When' the" operating'keygis releasedthe yoke under the action of the fspring 34: returns it togthe full lineposition.

' Normally the dog 7 is in contact'with the v yoke 35 'in the full lineposition and the pulley 5 is free wheelingon the vballsv22 which at thattime are positioned in the roots 27 of the cam elements, althotheyextend sufficiently beyond'the periphery ofthe ball cagev forthepulley to idle upon.

When the operator depress a-key the yoke 35 is shifted to dottedposition atwhich'time` the dog underthe action of thes'pring 24 isslightly rotated whereby torook the rocker pin extension, reverselyshift the cam sleeve and' advance the ball cage so as to produce aclutching action between the hubofthe pulley and the inclined surfacesof the cam elements.V Then the eccentric is operated 'to perform itsfunction and so longas the'key is' held down by the operator thisperformance would be carried on indefinitely. However, as previouslypointed out, the operator synchronizes her movement with that of theImachine so that usually when the'eccentric is down the yoke 35 isr` in,or in other words'is assuming, the full line position.

It will therefore be obvious that when the operator has released the keythe'yoke is in full'line position andthe dog is travelling in the fulllineposition coming up to lock in engagementwith the yoke whereby toreshift the roc-ker .pin and idlethe pulley as the eccentric istravelling in the downV positionj" .Y

gradually feed the dog 7 'into engagement with the'yoke 35 a portion ofthe yoke is rounded at 35?. By'virtue of Athis rounded portion and the'special configuration of the curved surface ofthe dog the dog ii'illalways be fed-easily Yinto tight 'grippingI relation with the cam face`of thev yoke, TheI cam face of theyoke"`di1ninislies inrelativerelation with respect to fthe in- 'creased 'curvaturefof the dogas 'the dog` traver's'esi"thereunder, during which interval oftimetherotation ofthe dog also takes place untilthe' dog'i's locked to theyoke, by which movement of the dog the rocker pin extension vshifts the'ball 1 vcage counterclockwise and the Vcam sleeveclock-wise'positioningthe balls inthe roots-of the 'cam elements, 'thus'freeing the Contact kof, the

yballs between the inclinedy "surfaces-ofthe cam and inner periphery ofthe Lhub bushing thereby permitting the f pulley,l hubL to rotate on theroller bearings ofthe ball side .the-yoke as it is assuming full-lineposition, we have rounded-off the correspond'- ge Y a l. Although thedepressingofthe :key isp-"f5 timed bythe operator so that thedogwill kf1 ing engaging edges 7a of the dogY and 35e ofthe yoke so that the ryokewill always slip over the dog inanyposition it engagesuit.. W'ith A eachdepression ofthe operating key which also depresses the spacer bar, saidrod 1` is`v elevated and lsaid c'lutch is operated which operates theeccentric, therod 2 and the stylus block (not shown) thereoinu y The arm3 is provided with a fiangeBG,

37, which lug is adapted forfhavingifastened theretofa brake band'38surmountinga brake Y a port-ion' of whichis developed into alug K' drum39fastened to the shaft 54 by r pin'tO.

The shaft '4 isV extended `beyond 'litsfbea'rvingA Von the arm 3sufhciently to'aecommodate the rnountingof 'the brake' drum. The

brakebandis adjustable to' different degrees roftightnessthroughitheagencyof the brake adjustment 41;'

In order that la to the travel of the eccentric bythel useof the brakedisc 39 the shaft 4 ispinnedfto the shank 29 by' a pin 42 toaccoinplishthe latter purpose. y Y

'Referring again to the clinching action of the balls, cam sleeve andpulley; normally in inoperative position-@the bushingl 26 keyed tothe-pulley hub is rotating freely or idling about the balls 22, ballcage 21, and cam sleeve 20. When the key extension' '11 y of the rockerpin is `operated to cause the ball cage to advance clock-'wise and shiftthe cam' sleeve counter-clockwise the balls will advance up thefacesofthe cams and assume a pinching relation' betweenthem and thebushing 26, thus causing' aelutching orvgripping action, softhat all theparts oorelated rotate ing-unison'. At thevbeginning 'n of thispinchingaction ofl the said balls with relation to the partsvadjacent'tothem, the ball cage 21 'is stationary, 'and infother Vwords the inertiaresistance requiredf to startsaid ball cage to rotating in! the eloek-Wise direction causes lsaid balls towedge more iirinly into the fclutching position'.

It 'will be obvious 'that'r at certain speeds the4 centrifugal action;4kof 'the balls alone,

due to the fact-they are always rotatingyon account of the 'pulley'idling tliereoinjwould or ont i -V L10u retardment may be given 1 be:sufficientto :advance the l.ball-:cage `after it was temporarilyvunconstrained fby the .rocking ofz-the rocker pin after it .had shiftedthe cam sleeve. However, the 'curved portionofgthe rocker .pin extensionis madeto bear' upon the sides of the spline 19 in the ballfcageto-fmake this action always positive. j v

Claims.

l. `:In 'a device-.ofthe character described, ashaft, a pulley ballbearingly mounted to normally idleon said shaft, :a hub for said pulley,a` bushing withinsaid Vliu-blixed thereto, an eccentric mounted on saidshaft, said veccentric having an extension which extends into @said 'huband bushing, a cam sleeve looselymounted on saidfextension :to rotatethere- -wit-luna ball cage vbetween said cam sleeve and bushing, .aseries of vballs in said cage, and means v.to produce a-.r'elativecircumferential movement between said ball cage Aand cam sleeveatointermittently cause a clutching action to take: place.

2. In .adevice of vthe character vdesribed, .a shaft, 'a pulley ballbearingly mounted to normally idleon said shaft, a hub for Vsaid pulley,a bushing within said hub fixed there- :to,fan-eccentric mounted vonsaid shaft, said eccentric having an extension which extends into .saidhub and bushing, a cam sleeve provided wi-thcam elements loosely mountedon said extension to rotate therewith, a ball cage between said camsleeve .and bushing, a series :of balls in said cage adapted tobeshifted on the face of said cam element to vand from positions whereinthey perform a clutching action, and meansto-produoe a relativecircumferential movement between said ball cage .andV cam sleeve tointermittently cause a shifting of said ballswhereby aniniti-algrippingand final clutching action takes place.

` 3. In a device of the character described` 'a shaft, a pulley adaptednormally to idle on said shaft,.a hub for said pulley, a bushingI withinsaid hub and fixed thereto, Aan cecentric mounted on said shaft, saideccentric having an annularextension which ,projects into said huband-bushing, .a cam sleeve loosely mounted upon .said-.extension -torotate therewith, a ball cage between said cam sleeve Yand'bush-mg,` aseries of balls in said cage,

Vthere being :cooperating keyways, `One of which is 4locatedfin said camsleeveand the other in said ball cage, and a rockable key to cause arelative circumferential movemen'tbetween said ball cage .and camsleeve, oneside of :said key engaging -oneof said keyway's and the otherside of said key engaging .the other of said leyways.

4. In-a device ofthe character described, a shaft, a .rotary .memberball :bearingly .mounted Ynornnrlly to freely turnon said shaft, a hubfor saida'ota-ry member, an eccentric mounted on said shaft, saideccentric havingan kannular extension which projects into said hub,.acam .sleeve loosely lmounted to said extension to rotate therewith, aballfcage between. said .cam sleeve and the interior of said hub, aseries .of balls movable radially in said cage, saidv balls 'beingadapted Vto performa gripping actionbetween the cam elements rof saidsleeve Aand-the interior of said hub, and means to cause al .relativelrocking movement between said ball cage andcam sleeve whereby ltoeffect varradial shifting of said balls and vthereby produce .anddiscontinue saidgripping action.

5. In a device of the character described, a shaft, a rotary memberadaptednormally to idle on said shaft, a hub for said rotary member, aneccentric-mounted. on said shaft, saideccentric .having an annularextension which projects into said hub, a cam Asleeve loosely mountedupon saideXtensionrto. rotate therewith and partially rotate thereon, Aa-ball cage between said cam sleeve-and -the interior of said hub, laseriesof ballsin said cage, said balls being `adapted to perform aclutching action between YVthe .cam elements of said sleeve :and theinterior of said hub, and means to cause a relative rocking movementb-etween said-ball cage and cam sleeve .toproduce `and-discontinue suchclutching action, the last recited nie-ans comprising a hey operativelyrelated Vto said ball cage and cam sleeveadogfiixed to saidley, a springnormally lholding said dog in an extended position, .and .a cam elementmovable to fand from .a .position wherein itis. engaged by said'dog toretract `the .latter against -the opposition `of said spring :at eachrotation of said shaft.

6. :In .a -deviceofthe characterdescribed, intermittent clutching means,comprising a .normally non-.rotating shaft, .a .continuouslyrotatingmember. mounted on said1shaft,there .being an .annular spacebetween said shaft Aand a portion of said member, a cam sleeve in saidlspace having inclined sides, .a ball cage 1n said space, balls inysai'd cage vadapted to be -moved up said inclined sides to performaclutching action and means .to..vary the forbital path inwhich saidballs areftravelling from an inoperative clutching position .to anoperative .clutching yposition .and vice versa `whereby to .produce'xanddiscontinue said clutching,` action, the inoperative clutching positionof said balls' providing a roller bearing for the continuously'rotatingmember to -id-leupon.

7. vIn .a device. of thecharacterdescribed,

intermittent grip-ping .means comprising a normally non-rotating`sl1af-t,a continuously rotatingmember mounted on said shaft, .there.be-ing anxannular-space.between said shaft and aportion ofsaidmember,-a cam ysleeve insaid space having cam elements, za ball cagein said sp.a'ce,.theballs of'which are adapted to move fromapositionwherein they perform arrolling action for said continuously,rotating member to `idle .upon to a position wherein they perform agripping action between the inclined sides ofthe cam element and saidcontinuously rotating member, and means to cause a rocking movementofeach of said ball cage and said cam sleeve to accomplish such actions.

8. In a device of the character described, intermittent clutching meanscomprising a normally non-rotating shaft, a continuously rotating membermounted on said shaft, there being an annular space between `said shaftand a portion of said member, a cam sleeve in said space, a ball cage insaid space, balls in said ball cage, and means to cause a relativerocking movement between said ball'cage and cam sleeve in order to movesaid balls to and from positions wherein they perform a clutching actionbetween the inclined sides of the cam elements of said cam sleeve andsaid continuously rotating member, the last recited means including a`key interengaging between said ball cage and said cam sleeve, and meansto operatey said key.

' JOHN R.` ATKINSON.

ROBERT GOODELL. JOHN K. STEGE.

(il) l

